I watched the Blu-rays of “Dune” and “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” yesterday. I haven’t seen either in standard def for awhile so I can’t offer a comparison. Both looked pretty good with Final Fantasy being better consistently. There were occasion grainy looking scenes in Dune that stood out from the otherwise cleaner looking ones. There were occasionally some very crappy looking effects in Dune where one image being superimposed over another was obvious, but these didn’t happen to often.

In both case the audio was very good. During one of the dream sequence battles in “Final Fantasy” you could hear the fighting going on all around you. Lots of discreet and ambient effects in both movies to exercise the surround channels. Also some very low bass as the but kicker “kicked” in quite often especially in “Final Fantasy.” However, I was disappointed that there wasn’t more very low LFE rumbling for the worms.

Except that as a movie “Dune” pretty much sucks IMO, they were both worth seeing on Blu-ray.

I just watched the series Moribito. It’s a 26 episode anime on 8 disks. Each episode lasts 25 minutes less if you skip the opening and closing. IMO this is easily worth 5/5 stars as it is simply an outstanding series.

The story is excellent showing signs of being adapted from a novel because of its richness and characterization. While some may complain at the slow pace I felt that the story moved along quite well with only a couple exceptions. There were a few filler episodes only two of which I found annoying. Otherwise all the rest of the episodes do something to advance the story in either an interesting or exciting way.

The nice thing about the story is the way it flows. No crazy plots twists (some twists just not double jointed) caused by characters behaving stupidly. All the characters are smart, well written and well acted. As if a great story and set of characters isn’t enough how about they add in fantastic animation and great sound.

I haven’t seen every fantasy anime made but this has to rank as one of the best ever animated. Panoramic shots look beautiful. Most fight scenes are fluidly animated and look like real people are fighting. Attention to detail abounds in almost every scene. Backgrounds are animated with grass, trees or snow blowing, and fires flickering. People in the background are really doing things. Not only are all the main characters very distinctive but so are most of the background ones. Not to mention it’s in a 1.78:1 ratio.

Lagging only slightly behind the PQ is the SQ. Though Netflix says it’s in Dolby 2.0 it’s actually in 5.1 for both Japanese and English. Not much in the LFE department but the surround sound is very well done. Both ambient and directional sound effects are constantly being used to complement the scenes w/o being distracting.

This anime is not going to be for those who want non-stop action. There’s a lot of scenes with just dialogue but since most of it is significant to the stories progression and well written/acted it stays engaging . Really the best way to think of this series is as an animated novel.

Highly recommended for anyone wanting a “real” story with “real” people that both looks and sounds great.

I just watched the first disk (pilot +2 episodes) of “Sanctuary.” How did this show get renewed for a 3rd season let alone a 2nd. Most of this show consists of bad writing, bad directing, bad acting, bad . . . . “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You” is more suspenseful, hell it bests “Sanctuary” on all counts. It’s one and only bright spot for me is Emilie Ullerup but that’s only because she somewhat resembles a Dutch stewardess I dated when I lived in Ghana.

I like that they are attempting a heavy CGI enhanced show, which may bode well for future shows but even that leaves a bit to be desired. Some pans seem grossly distorted almost as if shot through s “fish-eye” lens. Perhaps it’s intentional or exaggerated by watching it on a very large screen. Also the show is perpetually dark. I’m guess this makes the CGI blend better with the real scenes though it might just be a production choice.

If you want to see this story told much better just watch the “The Initiative” story arc (fourth season) of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Which IMO is the best season of that series.

I agree. A cool concept but poorly implemented in almost every other way.

Amanda Tapping as a brunette with a British accent just doesn't work for me either. But I guess that's what happens when your a character on a show that lasted for 13 seasons, if you count her cameos on the spin offs.

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Last night I watched "The Illusionist". I enjoyed this movie for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that it was quite different than the typical cookie cutter Hollywood production. Great acting, esp by Mr. Paul Giamatti as the corrupt Chief of Police...so much different from his usual roles, I honestly forgot it was him throughout the movie, great range. Also a fine job by Edward Norton as Eisenheim the illusionist. A movie supported by solid acting and an interesting story...sigh, who would have thought?

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Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.